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(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/liyahu.png)Liyahu is a constructed language created by Xay Voong during the development of a role-playing video game. The core concepts are based on the trinity entities mind, body, and soul. The philosophy is elemental, rational, metaphysical, semantical, structural, straightforward, compact, and concise.Character CompositionLetters and numbers are made of up three symbols--called vi--positioned around the skeleton, or skel--called nga. Each skel comprise three rooms, or vc, to hold these symbols. (Note the symbols may be color coded, but not necessary.)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/livi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/yavi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/huvi.png)

Mind

Body

Soul

livi

yavi

huvi

blue

green

red

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ngavi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/vangavi.png)

Skel

Down skel

ngavialso mingavi (up skel)

vangavi

letters

numbers

AlphabetLetters--called la--are written with mingavi (up skel) arranged either horizontally or vertically.

VowelsNote: Some Latin consonants are used as vowels when romanizing Liyahu. These are q,j,c, and x. In other words, when you see these letters, treat them as vowels. So in addition to the original a,e,i,o, and u, there are nine vowels.

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/li.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ya.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/hu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/le.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/lj.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/yq.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/yc.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/hx.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ho.png)

li

ya

hu

le

lj

yq

yc

hx

ho

/i ɪ/

/ɑ/

/u ʊ/

/ɛ a/

/y ʉ/

/ɔ/

/œ ɜ/

/ə ʌ/

/o/

keepit

hah

foodfoot

petpat

überJyutping(Cantonese)

law

permseung(Cantonese)

bundle

toe

Consonants

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/lu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ra.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/rhi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/yi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/wu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/nya.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ha.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/khi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ghu.png)

lu

ra

rhi

yi

wu

nya

ha

khi

ghu

/l/

/r/

/ɾ/

/j/

/w/

/ ɲ/

/h/

/ħ/

/ʔ/

lull

roar

carros(Spanish roll)

yay

wow

piña

hah

loch

but(glottal stop)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ngi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ka.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/gu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/na.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/tu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/di.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/mu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/pi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/ba.png)

ngi

ka

gu

na

tu

di

mu

pi

ba

/ŋ/

/k/

/g/

/n/

/t/

/d/

/m/

/p/

/b/

longing

kick

gag

nun

tot

did

mom

pop

bob

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/si.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/tsa.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/shu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/za.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/dzu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/zhi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/vu.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/fi.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/tha.png)

si

tsa

shu

za

dzu

zhi

vu

fi

tha

/s/

/tʃ/

/ʃ/

/z/

/dʒ/

/ʒ/

/v/

/f/

/θ/

sis

church

shush

zaz

judge

vision

vive

fife

thoth

NumeralsNumbers are written with vangavi (down skel). The empty vangavi is also used to represent zero.

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/0.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/1.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/2.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/3.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/4.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/5.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/6.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/7.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/8.png)

(http://www.shenafu.com/code/liyahu/9.png)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

hi

ri

wa

khu

me

ngq

nx

zhj

thc

sho

PunctuationPunctuation marks are written with parts of the ngavi (called kc, sounds like "ker") in any of the eight directions that it is turned. Up is mi, down is va, left is fq, right is pa.

Liyahu began as a gimmick for a conceptual RPG that I've had in mind for a long time. A central theme in this RPG is archaeology. To make things more interesting for the player, I wanted to create a forgotten language used by a long-gone group of people. Players would discover this exotic language as they explore the caves and ruins inhabited by the ancients.

The trinity has always fascinated me since I was a young adult. The idea came from the Dianetics book (I'm not a Scientologist) I read in 1997-98. The main idea that impressed me was the interplay between the three entities of mind, body, and soul. The number 3 is also an important, mystical, and flexible number. It's balanced (cf. rock-paper-scissors, triangle is the sturdiest shape), simple, repeatable, expandable, etc. More recently, I learned about ternary logic and how much better it is than binary (true/false) logic. (Aside, I'm designing a programming language with ternary logic as one of its core.) Also base-3 numbers are actually more efficient than base-2.

Back to Liyahu. The first roadblock is how would my letters in this alphabet look like. I saw other constructed languages based on concepts of 2 and 4. They usually put symbols side by side or in a square. Similarly for my base-3 writing, I decided to divide my letters into three parts. Hence, the skel (short for skeleton) that is shaped like a Y. The letters would be combinations and permutations of smaller symbols arranged around this skel.

The symbols for mind, body, soul came about quite simply. Mind is a vague outline of a (human) brain, separated by left and right halves. Body is an upright (human) body. Soul shows the four chambers of the (human) heart (as well as a cross pertaining to many spiritual philosophies, including ancient Babylon and Egyptian, Christianity, and Hinduism.)

With the symbols set, the next major hurdle is connecting them to the sounds used in speech (in particular, what our human voices can make.) Many alphabets in real-world languages comprise about 20 to 30 letters. Coincidentally, I can fit around that much using single and double symbols: 9 singles and 27 doubles = 36 letters. Thus I reserved 9 single letters for vowels and 27 doubles for consonants.

I sought the 3 most common, yet distinct vowel sounds found in languages around the world, and concluded these were A, I, and U. Then connected them to the trinity: A is the sound of physical release (e.g. when a fighter is about to punch), U is the sound of breathing central to many spiritual activities (e.g. yoga, meditation, hu is also the Mandarin word for exhale), which leaves I for mental activities. Another reason for choosing these 3 vowels, is that according to the IPA vowel chart, these 3 vowels occupy the corners of the chart. So, there is plenty of room between them to locate other lesser vowels and group them closest to the major vowels.

Consonants will contain two symbols in specific permutations. However, repeated symbols are rarer than combined symbols. That is, there are fewer mind-mind permutations than mind-soul. Hence, repeated symbols shall form the basis of consonants. For these, I sought out the glides, semi-glides, and pharyngeal sounds. First, there are fewer of these sounds than 'harder' consonants. Second, it distinguishes this language from real-world languages, which usually form around 'harder' consonants. Third, they sound smoother and less effort to pronounce. Liyahu comes out smoother than say, Bikatu. Also important is how close these sound to the essence of mind, body, soul. YA is the sound of physical release. HU is the sound of breathing. LI is the root of words like 'literature', 'letter', 'library', etc. (Thus I also defined 'li' in this language to mean 'letter'.)

The rest of the consonants are organized by family of sounds according to linguistic theories. Where the sound comes from (throat, nasal, mouth), position of tongue and teeth, voiced, aspiration, etc. Then fit these groups as best with the concepts mind, body, soul, along with the sounds of A, I, U.

The choices of vowels and consonants are highly influenced by English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

The names of the vowels is simply the base consonant sound--L, Y, or H--plus the vowel sound. For example, E belongs to I group, which is related to L. So L + E = le.

The names of the consonants is simply the consonant sound plus the vowel in the empty position of the symbol. For instance, L is missing the right symbol, which is the default position of the soul symbol, or U. Hence L + U = lu.

The default positions of the symbols situated around the skel is thus: mind at top, body left, and soul right. This has other ramifications for other matters, including 3-symbol letters, word composition, alternative writing systems, structural concepts (such as past, present, future), etc.

Words are created where each letter represents a process and property of that word. For example, the word for fire is 'hus'. H (soul-soul) means it has no physical state. You can't hit it or hold it. U (soul) means it moves around like a breath of air. S (soul-body) means it can warm the body and the heart. Fire also makes a sizzling sound. Thus, individually each letter for the word fire 'hus' and together embodies the essence of fire. (It also sounds very close to the Mandarin word for fire 'huo'.)

The variant writing systems began as a way to facilitate writing Liyahu with pen and paper. Variants 7 and 2 came first. However, the forums posts goes by the order I have in my notebook, where I experiment and practice the different writing systems. I must say, variant 2 is actually quite fun to write with pen and paper (and looks cute to boot). As you said, simple symbols, trimmed to the essential, make things efficient and practical. Then I expanded to wildly other forms of 'writing', although some of these seem more fanciful than practical. Variant 11 is inspired by Phyrexian writing (from Magic: the Gathering card game), through which I learned about ancient Incan communication methods that tied ropes and knots called 'quipu'.

One of my most ambitious, fanciful idea for the RPG is to have different writing systems appear on different parts of the game (i.e. on different worlds and levels).

Each Liyahu letter can be divided into three parts, or houses. Each house is dominated by either mind, body, or soul. Which symbol you put in each house will modify or define that house.

The simplest to explain is the left house, dominated by body. For the elements, this house defines what the element looks like or how it is manifested. A mind symbol in the body house means it is imaginary or abstract, only an idea. A body symbol means it has matter and can be felt and seen. A soul symbol means it invisible but has energy or force, or gaseous, or related to emotional or spiritual expression.

This method inducted to all elements, by filling every house with different symbols. Each permutation of houses and symbols forms a unique element.

The most iconic element is that of Man. (http://shenafu.com/code/liyahu/liyahu.png)The man has a physical body (body symbol in body house), a heart that can feel various emotions (soul symbol in soul house), and has the capacity for thought and advanced mental faculties (mind symbol in mind house). This element's graphic is also the icon for the Liyahu language and philosophy.

Base 12 is one of the more rational bases. Should Liyahu number system form around base 12? (instead of 3/9/27) Evenness is very crucial for rational arithmetic, to easily split things in half. If so, how should the symbols (vi) look like?

Liyahu symbols are formed around only 3 houses to place the vi. But the permutations thereof don't directly wholly form 12 symbols needed for digital computation.

Idea: A fourth house at the center of the skel. This means 4 houses and 3 vi in each house = 12 possible digits.

Ideally their order could match the Hero's journey, or like tarot major Arcana. In deck of cards with 12 ranks, starting from 0 to 11.

Title: Re: [lang] Li-Ya-Hu
Post by: Den on 2018-Aug-19 00:51

Liyahu is a ternary system. It has also been proposed as balanced ternary. Thus it easily follows that ternary logic and divination can also be utilized from Liyahu symbols.

Wheremind, -, false, nobody, 0, uncertain, maybesoul, +, true, yes

When one asks a question, it returns one of 3 answers: yes, no, maybe.

Divination similar to Ancient Chinese I Ching hexagrams may be represented in Liyahu. Where I Ching had binary trigrams = 2^3 = 8 combinations, here we have 3^3 = 27 combos. They can be simply represented with khuvi. This form already represents the 27 domains; either use the same domains, or alternative metaphors for divination.

A single vi provides a single answer, whereas a khuvi gives insight across 3 phases to provide a grander view of the problem. Such as past-present-future, thought-action-motivation, etc.